


Leviathan

by imdisappointingmyparents



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Body Horror, Demonic Possession, F/F, Mild Eye Trauma, Sexual Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-27 22:03:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8418790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imdisappointingmyparents/pseuds/imdisappointingmyparents
Summary: Nothing opens the heart up to evil quite like jealousy.





	

Emily grew up Catholic. Her parents were pretty far from devout, but they made it a point to go to Sunday Mass every week, if only for the sake of appearances. Somewhere in the depths of her jewelry box Emily still has the jewel-encrusted crucifix she was given as a child by her considerably more devout Aunt Taeko. It’s a tacky, needlessly expensive pendant, but Emily could never bring herself to sell it. Not that she’s sentimental about it; she just doesn’t want her aunt on her ass again.

Her parents had a falling out with their local church when she was nine, and all three of them were excommunicated. Her dad won’t tell her exactly what happened, brushing her questions off with a hand wave and an “it would bore you”.

If you asked Emily nowadays what she believes in, she’d say nothing, or, if she was feeling cheeky, Satan. She sees no need for faith or prayers, and knowing what the old white dudes at the Vatican thought about women and their bodies, she’s better off godless.

So she’s really not sure what to think when she starts hearing the demon.

It’s quiet at first, a faint, indecipherable whisper at the back of her brain, but slowly it craws deeper into her mind, a voice of candy-coated poison asking her why she’s been quiet, why she’s letting herself hurt, why she’s let them win.

Emily doesn’t know. She doesn’t want to think about them, about the three years with Mike and a lifetime’s worth of friendship with Jessica ground into dust in a single fucking instant, about how much happier the two of them are without her. She avoids them, avoids everyone though it isn’t really her style. Emily doesn’t have the energy to keep up the steely façade she wears the rest of the time, so most of her spare time is spent in her room, grateful nobody can see her like this, miserable and alone and crying like a damn idiot over two people who never loved her anyway.

Thoughts of Jess, of the years they'd shared, years of tears and laughter and secret sleepovers and best friends forever erased in an instant. Jess used her until she didn't need her anymore, and then she kicked her aside, a useless broken toy nobody wanted.

 _There’s a finite amount of happiness in the world,_ the demon whispers to her one day, while she’s lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes. Her phone lies beside her, full of concerned texts from Matt, all unanswered.   _It's_   _l_ _ike matter. It can’t be made or lost._ _People give it or share it, but most of the time they take it. Like they took your happiness from you._

“Give it a rest,” Emily groans. “I frankly do not give one flying fuck about President Douchebag Michael Munroe and his pretty little Playboy Bunny whore.”

 _Of course you don’t,_ the demon says, its voice dripping with sarcasm. _Which is why you spend your evenings crying into a pillow and burning old photographs like you’re a girl in a movie. You care. You’re hurting, and it’s all their fault._

“So what if it is?” Emily groans. “What are you gonna do, whisper in their ears like a third-rate horror flick?”

_You’re right. I can’t exact do anything on this plane without you. Which is why—_

“You want my soul?” Emily cuts it off. “Or my firstborn child or some shit? No dice, jackass. I’m a petty bitch who’s crazy enough to talk to an imaginary demon, but if there’s one thing I’m not, it’s stupid. Go back to hell.”

The demon laughs. It’s an unpleasant sound, all rustling dead leaves and crumbling iron.

_I don’t need to make a contract with you, darling. I just need a moment._

Emily rolls her eyes and shuts the voice out.

\------------

The voice is mostly quiet after that, just little whisperings here and there, mostly indecipherable. She’s almost forgotten about it when she’s walking across campus one afternoon when she sees Mike and Jess making out on a nearby bench. Jesus, they might as well be dry-humping with how much Jess is arched back, Mike on top of her, her shirt hiked up just enough to see a little bit of her midriff. Emily makes an audible gagging noise as she passes them.

Jess hears her.

“Hey. Bitch.”

She gently pushes Mike off and sits up, staring daggers at Emily, who returns the gesture.

“You got a problem?” Jess asks.

“A problem with your gross fucking PDA in the middle of a college campus? I’m probably not the only one,” Emily scoffs. Jess rolls her eyes.

“You know what, Em? I really don’t care. Why don’t you go home and find some rebound guy on Tinder that can tolerate you? Maybe if you get some of the obnoxious self-pity fucked out of you, you won’t be so fucking unbearable anymore.”

"Right," Emily snorts. There’s a strange feeling, a buzzing in her head, something pounding like a drumbeat. “Unbearable. That’s pretty rich, coming from you.”

Mike just watches them, seemingly interested only in the movement of their lips and probably thinking about how much he wants to jack off right now. Dick.

Jess laughs. The sound is high and cold.

“Oh yeah? Unbearable, that’s me, the girl with half the school wrapped around her finger. The girl who’s friends with everyone in our senior class and who’s the only reason you _ever_ had friends.”

Emily feels her blood go cold with rage, feels her body seize up, watches as a strange red fog creeps onto the corners of her vision.

“Excuse m—”

“I felt sorry for you,” Jess says, an ugly smirk on her face. “You were just some weird little loser that everyone made fun of. Nobody ever woulda even noticed you had I not made you my little minion. But guess what, hon? I don’t need you anymore. Nobody needs you. Nobody ever did.”

Emily feels her heart twist, ugly coils of rage and pain undulate through her body and suddenly the red fog closes in, swallowing up her vision as the pounding grows louder and the buzzing drowns out the world.

Suddenly she feels something cold wrap around something deep inside of her, something important and necessary and precious.

Her soul.

She would fight it, but she’s so, so angry, adrift in waves of red rage and corrosive poison brewing in her mind. The anger overwhelms her, and suddenly she understands.

It only needed a moment.

\------------

Emily’s knees buckle and she collapses to the ground with a sickening _crack_ as her face hits the concrete. Jess freezes. Mike runs over to her, fingers to her neck and Jess wants to tell him to leave her, she’s faking, but the way Emily just went blank and fell, let herself collapse mid-argument without so much as a cry makes Jess worry that she might’ve had a stroke.

“She’s breathing,” Mike tells Jess, then leans back down and pulls some of Emily’s hair away from her ear. “Em. Emily. Can you hear me?”

Emily doesn’t stir. He shakes her shoulder, tries again. Nothing.

“What happened?” Jess asks, unable to contain the worry in her voice.

“I don’t know, Jess. We need to—fuck, we need to get her to the hospital.”

Jess nods. Mike pulls out his phone and calls the cops while Jess stares, dumbfounded, at her former best friend.

The girl she’d just got done calling worthless.

Jess doesn’t cry when the paramedics take Emily off, when Mike awkwardly hands one of them her bag, when Jess sees the splattered blood from Emily’s now-broken nose. Jess doesn’t do anything. She just stands there until Mike taps her shoulder and says, “We should go.”

The ambulance drives off and they leave, the two of them sitting in silence until they get to Mike’s place.

\------------

There’s a nurse looking her over when she wakes. A young guy, scrawny and baby-faced with premature worry lines on his pale forehead. She watches with amusement and interest as he takes her vitals, watching as something pinkish and ethereal swims deep inside his chest. His soul, a sparkling little wisp of tiny stars, a galaxy of thoughts and memories and emotions.

She wants it very, very much.

He looks down and offers her a little smile when he sees her open, curious eyes.

“Do you know where you are, miss—”

“Davis. And I’m in a hospital, I’m guessing.”

The nurse nods.

“Good. Your vitals look good so far. We’re just gonna keep you under observation until we think it’s safe for you to leave, alright?”

She chuckles.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary.”

The nurse blinks.

“Wha—”

She slips out of the bed with ease, grabbing the nurse by the front of his scrubs before he can get a hold of her. With her free hand she runs a finger down his throat, silencing his screams before they leave his mouth. He writhes in her grip, crying out soundlessly as she focuses on the soul in his body, trembling and delicate.

Her lips part and she breathes in. The soul dislodges after a few seconds, streaming out of his body in a cloudy wisp. As it drifts into her mouth she drinks in the memories and intentions, the thoughts and feelings of this squirming human. Young and idealistic with a vicious streak, telling himself at night that it was fine he was blackmailing his peers and professors, it’ll get him to the top of his class, make sure he can graduate and help people. The ends justify the means. It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine.

The soul settles somewhere deep inside of her, crying out and afraid.

Its presence warms her, the soul’s screams a pleasant song that shatters the frigid silence of her home.

She wants more voices, more warmth. A chorus of the damned.

She drops the nurse to the floor and strolls out of the room, smirking as a pair of orderlies try to subdue her. Their souls go down easily, as does the security guard’s. So many lives of disappointment, of anger, of loneliness and lust and loss.

The men and women in the waiting room run, screaming and panicking and some try to hit her with chairs but she overpowers them with a low laugh. A quartet of long spidery tendrils emerge from her neck, twisting and wrapping around fleeing humans, bringing their souls to her. So much misery, but what else did she expect from a hospital? She needs to find tastier souls, fuller lives.

The dormant soul of Emily stirs. Memories of them. Of Jessica and Mike. The demon chuckles as its tendrils throw limp bodies to the ground. So many souls warming her up now but she wants more, needs more.

_What do you say, Em? How about we pay your dear old friends a visit?_

Emily’s soul makes a tiny noise.

_Shh. Hush now, hon. Oh, you’re gonna be so powerful. The two of us, we’re gonna eat up the whole world._

She kicks the prone body of an old woman aside as she heads out the door, probing Emily’s mind for directions to Michael’s house.

\------------

Jess and Mike spend the night in, Netflix and chilling. They’re watching some shitty rom com and Jess is having trouble focusing. There’s a character, the female lead’s snarky, bitchy best frenemy, and each time the two women appear on screen together, arguing or plotting or bemoaning the existence of men, it reminds her of Emily.

Jess shifts against Mike, who chuckles and pets her hair.

“Not feelin’ it?”

Jess shrugs.

“Movie’s kinda shit, don’t ya think?”

Mike reaches for the remote and pauses the film. He smirks down at her.

“Wanna switch to something a little more…engaging?”

Jess giggles as she looks into his eyes, marvels at how his pupils are already dilating.

“Oh yeah? What might you have in mind?”

Mike traces a finger down her arm, a low chuckle starting in his throat.

“Oh, you know. A little…stimulation, to get the blood flowing.”

Jess purses her lips.

“That sounds like work.”

“Doesn’t have to be,” Mike purrs. “Tonight, my lady, I am your humble servant. Just tell me what you’d like.”

Jess plants a kiss to his jaw.

“Good boy. Why don’t you make sure Little Michael is covered up first, yeah?”

“Of course, of course,” Mike says, visibly trying to mask his disappointment. “I’m no barbarian.” He stands and walks toward the other side of the room, where he left his bag, shuffles through it, and frowns.

“Must’ve left it in the car,” he mumbles. He looks up at Jess and flashes her another presidential smile. “Be right back, chickadee.”

“It’s alright,” Jess says, swooning and letting out a dramatic sigh. “I’ll just be here. Waiting.”

Mike bows.

“I shan’t be long.”

He leaves the room, heading for the front door. Jess stretches and walks over to the couch, picking up the now-empty popcorn bowl. She’s walking it over to the kitchen when she hears a loud bang in the other room, hears Mike scream and be abruptly cut off.

She freezes. The bowl slips from her hands and clatters to the floor.

“M-Michael…?”

Silence. Jess doesn’t move for a moment or two before timidly making her way to the foyer.

Mike lies on his back, eyes open and glassy, the front door lying in splinters before him. Jess swallows a scream.

“Mike!”

She runs over to him, putting two shaking fingers on his neck. It feels cold and clammy. Jess can feel tears starting in her eyes, a lump forming in her throat. She manages to find a pulse, faint and slow, the beats far apart. His breaths come in shallow wheezes; so quiet she at first mistook them for the wind coming through the doorframe.

There’s a sound behind her. Footsteps, dainty and light. She’s not alone.

Jess backs toward the broken down door and is about to make a run for it when something grabs her by the ankle and throws her aside, her body slamming into the floor, knocking the wind out of her.

For a moment or two her world spins as she splutters and gasps for air. Then she finally manages to focus on the woman standing over her. Dark hair and a pale, smirking face and dark, dark eyes.

It’s Emily. Her best friend, all warped and strange with her neck at a wrong angle, twisted black tendrils oozing painfully from her neck.

“Hey _hon,_ ” Emily says, sarcastic and predatory. Her voice is deeper than it normally is, deep and thick like melting chocolate. “I’m so sorry, did I interrupt something?”

“W-w-w—” Jess croaks. “W—what d-did you do to h—im?”

Emily blinks, amused.

“Who, Michael? I drank him,” she says, matter-of-factly. “His whole being, all he is and was and could be. All mine.” She makes a face. “Though I can’t say it went down all that easily. A bit rotten. Don’t know what you see in him.”

Jess snarls at her.

“You’re—you’re crazy, Em. You need help.”

Emily chuckles as she lifts Jess by her neck, Jess coughing and struggling as the tendrils tighten around her throat.

“I’m helping myself, darling. Monsters like me need plenty of souls to grow big and strong. And I think yours will taste much more delectable than Mr. Macho over there.”

“E—Em—” Jess gasps. “I—I—I’m s-s-orry—p-lease—”

Emily laughs, the same high, cold laugh Jess shot at Emily that afternoon.

“Oh, Jessica, honey,” she purrs, her eyes black as death. _“Em’s not here.”_

She flings Jess into a wall and stalks over to her. Jess feels hot coils of pain burn through her as she shakily gets to her feet. Her vision blurs as this monster that’s taken over her friend—her former friend—comes closer and closer.

“You know, you did quite a number on her,” the demon says. “Turned the world’s sharpest megabitch into a pitiful little wreck. So much sniveling and self pity, it was making me sick.”

“That—that wasn’t my fault,” Jess spits. “ _I’m_ not the one who dumped her. I didn’t make Mike leave her.”

“But where were you when she needed you? Too busy savoring the goods to so much as dry her tears?”

Jess spits at her.

“You don’t know anything about—”

“Oh, I don’t?” The demon cuts her off. She taps her temple with a smirk. “I’ve been inside this one’s pretty little head. I know. Every thought and feeling and pathetic little wish upon a star. You and Michael made up her little world. Now she’s got nothing. Nothing but me.”

Jess feels her blood run cold. Her once best friend, so broken by abandonment that she’d let something like this happen to her. Jess had ripped her to pieces, destroyed her entire social foundation for a boy. And now some fucking demon is going to, what, suck her soul out and leave her to rot?

“Why are you doing this?” Jess begs.

The demon shrugs.

“I’m hungry.”

She sees Jess reaching for her phone and grabs it with a tendril, bringing it close to her face.

“Cute. Must have cost you a lot of money.”

She snaps it in half in front of Jess, watching as the circuits spark pitifully and fall to pieces. She throws the broken phone aside and saunters forward, eyes dark and cold as her smile gets meaner and hungrier.

“Give her back!” Jess tries pitifully. “Please, just—just give her back…!”

The demon snorts.

“Do you honestly think your shrill ass pleas are gonna wake her up and make her fight me off? Trust me, she’s having just as much fun as I am right now.”

Jess blinks away tears.

“I’m sorry, Emily…I’m so sorry…”

The demon yawns.

“Well, this has been fun,” she says, “but I think we ought cut to the chase, don’t you think?”

She reaches toward Jess with a single, lazy tendril. Jess just barely manages to dodge it, landing on her knees near the fallen bowl of popcorn. Suddenly an idea comes to her, and she grabs a bit of salt from the bottom of the bowl. The demon strides toward her and Jess lunges forward, smearing the salt into her eyes.

There’s a sizzling sound and the demon screams in agony and rage. Jess makes a break for the door.

The last thing she sees before she leaves is her best friend glaring up at her, eyes red and bloodshot and furious.

\------------

Jess runs in a blind panic down the suburban street, screaming for someone to stop, to call the police, to save her. Behind her the demon is strolling after her, relaxed and confident, snatching up and devouring the souls of anyone who gets too close. Jess considers running into a neighbor’s house but knows she’d just be delaying the inevitable. This thing isn’t gonna stop until it gets her. And then it’s going to eat everything else.

Because of a stupid, petty fight. A fight she caused.

The demon comes closer, its laughter booming as it drinks up all the souls of the neighborhood, anything and everything falling before it.

There’s no way anyone is going to beat this thing. Unless—

It’s a long shot, a crazy long shot, but she has to try.

Jess barrels down a familiar street, her breath exploding from her lungs, the demon right behind her, laughing, laughing.

\------------

She follows her prey down a hill, past some more houses, and into a posh suburban schoolyard. The school building stands empty and dormant, little paper decorations in the windows and chalk lines on the gravel.

Emily’s soul murmurs faintly. She recognizes this place.

She strolls down the blacktop, wishing it were day so she could have a couple of little tots to gobble up. Kids’ souls taste the best, all wild and imaginative and sweet, like ripe strawberries. She licks her lips. There will be time for that later. For now she’ll grant her host one last wish, and give her the revenge she craves.

Jess is standing in the field across from the playground, shaking but making no effort to run. She looks spent, out of breath. This will be even easier than she thought.

“Don’t think teacher’s gonna be around to save your ass, babydoll,” she calls out.

Jess stands, silent, her eyes afraid but focused, determined.

The demon snorts.

“What exactly is your plan here, honey? Challenge me to a softball game?”

Jess bounces nervously on her heels and looks deep into the demon’s eyes.

“Em,” Jess says, slowly, her voice soft, “do you remember this place?”

The demon rolls her eyes.

“Emily’s not—”

“Em. Please,” Jess tries again. “F-field day. First grade. We ran the three-legged race and we fucked it up and you were crying but—but I said it was okay and we acted like we were hurt and sat out while the other kids busted their asses on weird dumb carnival game shit.”

The demon feels something twist inside of her. She grits her teeth.

“You were so weird,” Jess says, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She’s smiling a bit. “You always cared so much about winning everything, even stupid pointless games like that. You always tried so hard.” Her voice breaks and she laughs wetly. “You care _so damn much_ about everything. I d-don’t know how you have the energy for it.”

The demon’s hands begin to shake. Her freezing body’s temperature begins to rise.

“Stop.”

“I should’ve known you would’ve taken it so hard. I should’ve known you would’ve been upset and I—I—it’s my fault b-because—because I got with him cause I was mad at you. Because after all this time, you never—you never—”

She sobs. The demon feels a wave of shock run through Emily’s soul.

_she…she…_

_Shut up,_ the demon tells her.

“Em, I—I love you,” Jess says. “I’m sorry. I just—you only ever wanted Mike and I got jealous and—”

The demon can feel Emily waking up, fighting her for control. She snarls in frustration.

“I love you,” Jess repeats.

“Stop it!”

“I love you so, so much, Em,” Jess says. “I didn’t just feel sorry for you, you know. I always thought you were so cool and smart. It made me so sad that other people couldn’t see that.”

The demon feels a force slam into the back of her head, feels Emily fight to regain control of her throat and lips and tongue. She jerks forward, biting down on her lip until it splits.

“J—Jess—i—ca—” Emily’s voice chokes out. Jess smiles in relief, tears falling from her eyes at the sound of her best friend’s real voice, not the deep syrupy voice of the demon.

“You can beat this thing, Em. You’re stronger than some bitchy demon and you sure as hell can’t give up and let it run your life.”

Tears pour from Emily’s eyes. The demon can feel the trapped souls inside of itself beginning to fight as well, ramming against the cage it’s placed them in. Its body temperature is raising rapidly.

  
“H—h—elp—” Emily’s voice croaks.

Jess comes closer, takes Emily’s hands in her own. The demon fights furiously for control, trying to drag Emily’s soul down, to suffocate it but Jessica awakened something in her, made her want to fight.

“You’re too good to let some demon run your show,” Jess encourages her. “You’re so, so great, Em. I love you so much.”

_Get back here and shut up you pathetic little—_

_she loves me,_ Emily’s soul whispers. _she loves me._

 _No one loves you,_ the demon snarls to her. _Now shut up and—_

_shelovesmeshelovesmeshelovesmeshelovesme_

_No. One. Loves. You._

Emily’s reply is immediate and forceful.

_i don’t need you anymore_

The demon can feel itself being ripped apart by the rebelling souls. Jess pulls Emily’s body into a hug, whispering soothing things into her ear.

“You can beat this thing, Em. I know you can. You can fight it.”

“I—I—”

“Em. Look at me. You’ve never given up on anything in your life. You’re not a quitter. You’ve never let any fake bitch beat you and you’re certainly not gonna let this fucker win. Okay? You can do this.”

Shakily Emily’s hands cup Jess’s face. Forced out of control of Emily completely, the demon roars. Jess’s eyes widen. Before anything else can happen Emily leans in and presses Jess’s lips to her own.

The kiss is soft and sweet and chaste, but it’s enough to free Emily’s soul from the remains of the demon’s grip. A fire burns through her body, freeing the souls trapped within her, all of them pushing out, rending the twisted demonic flesh and burning the remains. The pitiful shreds of the vanquished demon struggle and fester and die.

Emily feels a force bloom inside of her, the souls within her body fighting to escape, and she breaks away from the kiss long enough to open her mouth and let out a shriek as light floods her vision and all the souls break free, flying out and into the air, finding the bodies they came from.

The light fades, leaving the starry night sky in her vision, then a swirl of grass and fences and Jessica as her knees buckle and she collapses to the ground. Jess catches her and they tumble to the ground, laughing weakly in each other’s arms. Like they’re kids after a water balloon fight, sprawled on the ground, laughing.

“You…are…so… _gay_ ,” Emily pants, managing a smirk as Jess helps her up to a sitting position.

“Excuse me,” Jess shoots back, “pretty sure you were the one who kissed me.”

“To exorcise a demon.”

“By the gayest means possible.”

“There was no way that kiss was gayer than your fucking melodramatic confession.” Emily does a dramatic swoon. “Oh, Emily, my one true love, you _must_ come back to me!”

Jess rolls her eyes.

“Remind me to never compliment you again.”

After a moment or two Emily leans over and pulls her into a hug.

“I thought I was gonna be asleep forever. I thought that thing was just gonna kill everything.”

“Well,” Jess says, “obviously it messed with the wrong gay disasters.”

Emily snorts.

“You’re the gay one.”

“Sure, Jan.”

There’s another silence. Emily looks up at Jess, looking uncharacteristically meek.

“Jess? Did you mean all that stuff you said? About…about loving me?”

Jess looks her full in the face.

“Every word.”

She kisses her again.

\------------

They take Emily back to the hospital after that. Mike is waiting for them there, along with all the other people who had mysteriously awakened from sudden and unexplained comas. None of them seemed to remember Emily’s rampage.

He walks in to Emily’s room, looking at the two of them dazedly. Jess offers a shy wave.

“I was going to get stuff from the car and I…” Mike starts. He rubs his head. “Jess, what happened?”

Jess gives him a quick, firm hug.

“You passed out, honey. Like Em did. We got you to the hospital. Everything’s okay.”

Mike nods, rubbing the back of his head.

“This is all so weird.”

Emily snorts.

“That’s one way to put it.”

They hear footsteps behind them and turn to see Matt running into the room, his eyes full of worry.

“Em, are you okay? I heard you got sick and—” He looks at Mike. “Oh, hey Mike. You got sick too, huh?”

“Thanks for the sympathy, dude…” Mike grumbles.

Jess watches as Matt fusses over Emily for a bit, Mike by her side until both boys leave and they’re left alone again. Emily yawns.

“Thank god I’m only spending one night in this dingy-ass place. I wanna go home and sleep for a million years.”

“Me too,” Jess says. She looks at the door to the hall, where Mike and Matt had been just a short while before.

“Sorry to make everything so complicated,” Emily says with a weak laugh. “I know you and Mike are happy and Matt is all, like, into me and we like each other and it’s all weird and it’s making my head hurt.”

Jess chuckles and presses a single finger to Emily’s lips.

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

Emily rolls her eyes again, but when Jess offers her hand, Emily takes it. It’s warm. Her eyes have gone back to their usual soft brown. They focus on Jess, full of love and happiness as they flutter shut.

Jess sits by her bedside, holding her hand and watching her sleep until visiting hours end.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween everybody! Have some gay nerds.  
> Leave a comment if you liked it.  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
